In the context of the lockdown, VPN services occupied a third of the top apps downloaded on iOS

The top ten also include the Goskey app, WhatsApp, Wildberries, Yandex Browser, Yandex Map & Navigator, and the kari network app.

Experts interviewed by the publication argue that this download situation may be the result of Roskomnadzor’s recent blocking of VPN services. Last Monday, some bloggers and media outlets reported about service failures.

In the RKN itself, Russian companies were advised to abandon the VPN and speed up the “move” to a server infrastructure located in the Russian Federation.

Affected blocks, in particular: VPN generator, Lantern, Windscribe, Tachyon, Betternet, Cloudflare, Urban VPN, Amnezia, PIA, Proton, Openvpn connect, Planet, iVPN, Xeovo, Surfshark, Tunnelbear, P4PN.

According to independent IT expert Philip Kulin, the latest wave of blocking was carried out not only on individual protocols, but also on foreign IP addresses. Therefore, the attention of the RKN was attracted by the traffic that crossed the Russian borders.

Kulin notes that the department has a database of national IP addresses, which was formed under the law “On sovereign Runet.” The RKN may be testing a “soft hack” of Runet from foreign content, Kulin admits.

As Roskomnadzor explained to the publication, according to the law “On Communications”, the operation of VPN services that do not leak information that violates the law is prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation.

“The use of VPN protocols with foreign server infrastructure carries significant risks of personal, corporate and other information leakage,” the RKN said.